Sao Paulo city council takes first step to ban Uber

SAO PAULO, July 1 (Reuters) - The city council of Sao Paulo,
South America's largest metropolis, voted to ban the U.S-based
Uber ride-sharing service late Tuesday, the latest setback for
the company after several countries took similar steps in recent
months.

City lawmakers decided 48-1 in favor of banning
application-based private car services such as Uber in a
preliminary vote. The bill requires a second vote and the
signature of Mayor Fernando Haddad in order to be enacted.

The mayor has not indicated whether he would sign the bill
into law.

"Uber defends the right of users to choose the way in which
they move about the city," the company said in a statement
posted on Facebook after the vote, adding that the service
continues to operate normally in Sao Paulo, a city of 11 million
people.

The company said more than 200,000 emails had been sent to
city council members by users urging them to vote against a ban.

Sao Paulo's white taxis swarmed the street in front of the
municipal legislature on Tuesday and drivers filled the
chamber's galleries.

Uber has triggered protests by taxi drivers from London to
New Delhi as it upends traditional business models that require
professional drivers to pay often steep fees for licences to
operate cabs.

In early May a Brazilian judge struck down an injunction
calling for Uber's suspension throughout the country.
(Reporting by Asher Levine; Editing by Mary Milliken and W
Simon)